


Thorny Path

by Eilara



Category: Shi ga Futari wo Wakatsu made | Until Death Do Us Part
Genre: Action, F/M, Mystery, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-12-03
Updated: 2010-12-03
Packaged: 2017-10-13 12:09:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/137194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eilara/pseuds/Eilara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mamoru winds up in a situation his formidable skills may not be able to get him out of. Did Haruka see it coming? Why didn't she warn him? The pair are torn abruptly apart, but to what end?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is my first foray into this fandom. I’m a little nervous, because I’m not sure I’ve fully grasped the feel of the manga. We shall see. One of the reasons I began writing this particular ficcie, apart from the obvious fact that I absolutely love the manga, was that it is so poorly represented.
> 
> I’m not sure how long this one will be, I’m just going with the flow here. So do hope you enjoy, reviews are always welcome, and don’t be afraid to throw in some criticism if you feel it needs improving anywhere. :3
> 
> This fic will no doubt stray from the canon plot, in fact I guarantee it. My imagination tends to be quite fertile, and even though I would like to stay true to the manga plot, there are certain limitations, namely the fact it isn’t completed yet. ;)
> 
> Apologies for the shortness of the chapter, it being a prologue and all, the next chapter will be longer. :) Mild warning for language that some might find offensive.

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Prologue   


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Mamoru gazed down at the landscape below him. Well, gazed may not have been an accurate term. Mamoru Hijikata was blind. He did however have aid in the sight department. The pair of sunglasses he now wore transmitted data directly onto his retina which allowed his brain to render these signals into an elaborate form of wire model of the world around him. He couldn’t pick up specific details, such as writing, or subtle facial expressions, but real time movement, obstacles and the like were more than sufficient for him.

From his perch on the roof of a four storey building, he could see a stream of traffic flowing like worker ants below him. Across from him stood an impressively large high-rise building. It was well into the night now, and even though the street below was still busy, the office block opposite was mostly quiet, the majority of the staff having headed home for the day.

It was the perfect time for Mamoru. He excelled under the cover of darkness, the one time when the limitations of eyesight became apparent. He hadn’t been born blind, but he had suffered with the supposed disability for many years. His other senses had picked up the slack, as it were, honing themselves to above normal levels. With the addition of the technological aid, he was at no disadvantage to any other human being. In fact, he probably had an advantage over most.

With one last glance at the building opposite him, Mamoru straightened, gripping the long, slender white cane in his right hand a little tighter. He didn’t need the aid of the cane, but its purpose was more than pure aesthetics.

He trotted over to the adjoining wall and, spying the emergency exit ladder nearby, made a beeline for it. With a quick check over the side of the building to make sure the side-street below was empty, he hopped over the knee high wall and slid easily down the ladder, landing with a soft thud at the bottom.

His hands chafed a bit from the friction that sliding down the ladder had caused and he rubbed them briefly on his jeans to get the proper feeling back into them.

The side-street was fairly narrow, practically just an alleyway between two buildings. It wasn’t even wide enough for a vehicle to drive down. Some garbage had piled up along the walls, creating an obstacle course for Mamoru to dodge around. As he neared the entrance to the side-street, he slowed, eventually pausing at the corner of the building he had just descended from. Peering out onto the main street, he noticed a few people strolling along the pavement, but they didn’t appear to have business in this area and he didn’t consider them to be any threat. The road itself was still pretty busy with traffic, the noise of passing cars drowning out most other sounds in the vicinity.

A slight buzzing in his ear let Mamoru know that the communication line with his team was now open. Another aspect of the sunglasses was to allow his teammates to monitor his actions and keep in contact with him. Originally, their little group had consisted of just Mamoru and Ryotaro Igawa. Igawa was essentially his partner, providing backup from the safety of his heavily modified van. He specialised in all things technological, so if Mamoru was the brawn of their operation, Igawa was the brains.

Mamoru had been quite comfortable with that arrangement. Igawa certainly had his uses – the sunglasses being just one of many. Mamoru was also quite the lone wolf. He didn’t like having to work with others, they tended to get underfoot, become weaknesses, liabilities. So, with Igawa well out of the way in his protected vehicle, Mamoru was mostly left to his own devices. That was until ‘she’ had shown up. Haruka Toyama had practically accosted him on the street and demanded he ‘save’ her. She had been just a scared twelve year old girl to him then. If he had known what she would get him into, he certainly wouldn’t have agreed to help her so easily. His fairly simple life had turned into one huge, ugly mess.

A wry smile passed across his lips. It wasn’t as if he really had much choice. The girl was pre-cognitive after all. She had known exactly what she was doing, had planned it all out.  No, that wasn’t exactly true. Her predictions weren’t set in stone. What she saw was just one of many possible futures. He had proven time and time again that the future she could see was changeable. Still, it left an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Ultimately, he had agreed to look after Haruka, to keep her safe. The words she had uttered when they had first met came back to him. ‘Until death do us part’. For something like that to come out of a child’s mouth was creepy to say the least. When taking into account that she was also pre-cognitive, it was downright worrisome. What caused her to say that? The question had crossed his mind many times over the months that he had known the girl. He also had the niggling feeling that she wanted, or expected something more from him. It wasn’t as if he was good at reading kids and he hated complications so he firmly ignored anything that was out of his comfort zone.

“You okay?” Igawa’s voice crackled through his earpiece.

Mamoru shook his head. He’d been standing at the entrance to the alleyway for far too long, lost in his own thoughts.

“Worried about Haruka?” Igawa continued, upon receiving no reply from Mamoru.

“What?” Mamoru’s response came across as gruffer than he had intended. If he had to admit it, he probably was a little worried. Not about Haruka per se, but her behaviour before he and Igawa had left earlier that evening had been rather odd. Usually, she asked to come along, but she hadn’t even mentioned it. Even as bad as he was at reading kids, he could tell she had been upset about something. The only thing he could think of was that she had ‘seen’ something that she hadn’t liked. _Great, yet another thing to worry about._

He heard Igawa cough lightly through the earpiece. He was obviously contemplating whether to push the subject, but Mamoru’s slightly heated reaction was causing him to doubt whether that was a good idea.

“Let’s just focus on business,” Mamoru interjected before the other man could make up his mind.

Stretching his cane out before him, he walked out onto the main street, posing as just another pedestrian, albeit a blind one. He strolled leisurely along the pavement opposite the high-rise building, the tip-tapping of his cane clicking against the concrete the only other sound aside from the traffic.

“Wait, hadn’t we agreed on using the back entrance?” Igawa’s voice sounded a little worried.

“Change of plans,” Mamoru muttered, heading to the edge of the pavement, readying to cross the road, directly opposite the main entrance of the towering building.

“What the hell? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

Another wry smile passed across Mamoru’s features, but he chose not to reply, considering the question mostly rhetorical.

Seeing a gap in the traffic, he hurried across the road, cane leading. He paused as he reached the pavement on the opposite side of the road, scanning the front of the building. The two large doors which made up the main entrance were closed, as would be expected at this time. He presumed they were glass, going by the usual taste in this area of the city and the images that were being sent to him via the sunglasses. He couldn’t see anyone in the foyer area of the building, so he cautiously approached the entrance. The images that were sent via his sunglasses used a sort of sonar system. It wasn’t terribly accurate at long range, but it did offer the capability to ‘see’ through some amount of solid matter.

Something didn’t feel quite right. There should at least be a security guard in the foyer. Unless, of course, he was doing his rounds. A gentle nudge on one of the glass doors with his cane confirmed Mamoru’s deduction that they wouldn’t be locked yet, allowing employees working late to leave without hassle. With his left hand he pushed open the door and slipped inside, letting the door close behind him.

There was a panel to his right which relayed the names of the various companies that were located on the premises. Of course, Mamoru couldn’t read it, but he had gone over the layout of the building with Igawa earlier, so had no need for it anyway.

“Third floor, right?” Mamoru asked under his breath, as he headed for where he knew the elevators to be.

“Yeah,” Igawa replied. “Make a right when you get there and it should be the second office on your left.”

Reaching the set of elevators, Mamoru pressed the call button and waited, focusing all his senses on the area around him, in case anyone was close enough to discover him.

“Anything out of place on your end?” he asked through the com.

There was a pause before Igawa’s voice piped up through the earpiece. “Mmm, not that I can see. In fact the place seems perfectly quiet.”

Igawa had hacked into the building’s security system earlier that night in preparation for Mamoru’s infiltration. Having an extra set of eyes was never a bad thing. It was practically part of their standard code of conduct. Mamoru’s sudden change in plans had probably upset their routine a bit, but he trusted in Igawa’s ability to adapt to the situation, and if there was any danger lurking above him, then he was sure Igawa would see it before he got there.

The elevator pinged as it arrived on the ground floor and the doors slid open almost soundlessly. Mamoru stepped inside and eyed the control panel, eventually finding the button for the third floor and pressing it.

He clenched and unclenched his hand around his cane as the contraption began to move. Elevators weren’t his most favourite of places. There was a sense of loss of control inside a moving mechanised box that Mamoru really didn’t like. The fact that it was moving particularly slowly wasn’t helping one bit.

Deciding to busy himself while the damned slow elevator made its way to the third floor, he reached inside his waist length jacket and checked that his equipment was all in order. A faint grating sound that emanated from somewhere above Mamoru had him jerking his attention upwards.

“What the hell is that?”

‘Igawa’s confused voice came back over the com. “What?”

Suddenly the elevator shuddered, causing Mamoru to shift his feet and lean against one wall for support.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered under his breath. “What the hell’s wrong with this thing, Igawa?”

Silence greeted Mamoru’s question.

“Igawa?”

Again, there was no response. Before he could contemplate the meaning behind it, the lift shuddered once more. Mamoru’s stomach suddenly felt like it had shot up into his throat as the lift abruptly descended, a heck of a lot faster than it had been ascending. Metal screeched upon metal as the mechanical box plummeted to the ground floor.

“Shit!”

*          *          *

Haruka sat huddled on her bed, her arms around her knees, hugging them close to her chest. Her wispy blonde hair had fallen forward, obscuring part of her face, strands of it clinging to her skin where her tears had moistened it.

Why did it have to turn out this way? Why was she so powerless? She stifled back another sob. Even after everything Mamoru had taught her, had showed her, she still had seen no way out. Other than... other than... this.

How long would it be before they saw each other again? Would they even see each other again? No, she had to believe in the future she had seen all that time ago. If she didn’t...

Haruka shook her head forcefully. No she wouldn’t go down that path. She couldn’t.

She glanced up as the door to her bedroom swung open. A tall man in a black tailored suit with a grim expression on his face stood in the doorway. She didn’t need to ask who he was. She knew.

“You need to come with me, Miss.” The man’s voice was deep and authoritative.

Haruka swallowed the lump in her throat. Even though she knew what was going to happen, it didn’t make it any more bearable.

She turned and slid her legs off the bed.

“Okay,” she replied meekly.

Without bothering to pick up any of her belongings or even a single look back, she stood and followed the man out of the room. As they reached the entrance of the building that had been her home for many months she glanced behind her, scanning over the objects as if trying to ingrain them into her memory. This would be the last time she would see this place. Tears threatened to overflow once more as she turned her back on the room and exited the building.


	2. First Steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bear with me with the explanations of what the heck is going on in the story. All shall be revealed. :3

**First Steps**

 

Haruka propped up her chin on the palm of her hand, her elbow resting on the windowsill, as she peered out at the people milling around in the plaza below her. She sighed wistfully. She wished she could be one of those people, living a normal life, being able to stroll around without a care in the world.

This had become a habit of hers - watching strangers out of the window, imagining what their lives were like, where they were going, what thoughts were running through their minds. The wearer of a pink frilly top caught her eye. As she looked closer she saw it was a girl of perhaps sixteen years of age, wearing tight, figure-hugging jeans and had some kind of designer bag slung over her shoulder. She seemed in a rush, weaving in and out of people that were in her way. Haruka imagined that she was late for a date either with friends or a boyfriend. She smiled, somewhat sadly. She had experienced the beginnings of friendship once, back when she was at school, before it was all ripped out from under her.

She tore her eyes away from the window, slipping her arm from the sill, and leant against the wall, head resting lightly against the cool wallpaper. That life seemed so distant now. Like it had been lived by another person.

Since that time, she had been put under ‘protective custody’ by the Elements Network, constantly moved around, watched over and generally used. It wasn’t necessarily a bad life. She could imagine people who were far worse off than her. She had a roof over her head, she had food in her stomach and she was healthy. Those were the important things in life. Or so she kept telling herself. She couldn’t help but wish for something more though. She wanted friends. Yes, she was still in touch with Alpha and Juliet and occasionally with Igawa, but they were always away, living their own lives. She had no idea what had happened to Sierra after she had gone missing from the hospital, let alone Mamo-. She stopped herself as her thoughts began to meander towards the man she had knowingly parted from.

How long had it been anyway? Six, almost seven years. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Too long.

Her visions, her dreams, came fewer and farther between these days. She wondered if her ability would fade away with age. The Elements Network certainly weren’t pleased at that prospect. From their point of view she had cost them a lot of money and resources to keep safe. Would they throw her away, just like they had with Mamoru? She groaned as he entered her thoughts again. She had vowed a long time ago to keep him from her mind. She would only drown in self pity if she continued to linger on thoughts of him. She hadn’t had a single vision about him since that fateful night. She wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. She hoped it was just because he wasn’t close to her now and not that he was... dead.

With barely restrained frustration, she pushed herself to her feet and walked to the table in the centre of the living come dining room. The apartment she lived in for the moment was fairly small. There was the living room which doubled as a dining room, a kitchen, one bedroom and a bathroom. It was more than ample for her needs, and of course for whoever her caretaker was at the time. She wasn’t a child any more, she was more than capable of taking care of herself, yet the Elements Network was still so over-protective of her. It had been well over a year since any other organisation had shown signs of interest in her. Still, that didn’t mean they weren’t interested, she supposed. Perhaps they were just biding their time? Or maybe they had heard of her diminishing abilities? She shrugged. She didn’t really care. She seemed destined to be used by whoever had the most power, strength, or money.

With her help, E.N. punished criminals who had escaped sentencing through the judicial system. It wasn’t a bad cause. She could be used for much worse. She sat down on one of the sturdy wooden chairs at the table and drummed her fingers on the smooth surface. She had once enjoyed doing the work she did now, back when it had been just Igawa, Mamoru and herself. Even when Sierra had joined them, followed by Juliet. The two women had worked for The Wall, a special forces unit led by Alpha, which specialised in non-lethal combat against criminal organisations. They had been assigned as extra protection, or maybe it had just been to keep an eye on Mamoru. It had all been a bit vague with hidden meanings behind everything. The use of the phonetic alphabet for codenames for the members had been slightly amusing to begin with, but she understood the need for them all too well. Information was power.

Haruka let out another sigh. “This isn’t getting me anywhere.”

She pulled her fingers through her long, fine blonde hair, sweeping it away from her face. She glanced at the kitchen door to her left. Maybe she should make some dinner. She wasn’t particularly hungry, but she usually found the act of cooking fairly therapeutic and it would certainly help relieve her boredom.

As she made her way to the kitchen she heard the sound of the front door to the apartment unlocking and opening. She paused in the kitchen doorway and peered round at the small entrance hall area.

“Ah, Mr. Kuroki. Good evening,” she greeted the slender young man as he removed his footwear by the front door.

He looked up at her from his bent over position, his smile reaching to his brown eyes. “Miss Toyama, how many times must I ask you to call me Ren?”

She returned the smile. “Oh, about as many times as I’ve asked you to call me Haruka.”

He straightened up and chuckled lightly. “Fair enough.”

Haruka was glad it was Ren who was her ‘caretaker’ today. He was one of the nicer ones and generally came with a ready smile. She knew he wasn’t particularly pleased at having to perform this ‘babysitting duty’ as she’d overheard some of the others call it, but at least he didn’t take out his displeasure on her.

“You’re just in time. I’m about to start dinner. Please, sit,” she said as she motioned to one of the chairs by the dining table.

Ren’s eyebrows rose. “You don’t need to bother about me, Miss Toyama.”

She offered him an encouraging smile. “It’s much more fun to cook for someone else.”

He looked dubious for a moment, but appeared to submit to her request as he walked over to the dining table and took a seat, looking a little awkward and flustered.

Haruka’s gaze lingered on the man for a moment longer, taking in his features. She supposed he was a fairly handsome man, yet she couldn’t bring herself to be attracted to him, or any other man at that. Unconsciously she compared every man she met to Mamoru, and they all seemed to fall terribly short. She wasn’t even sure she could rely upon such a contrast any more. Six years ago she had been but a child. She was sure everything would be different now. Her views on the world, her views of people. Still, that heavy feeling in her chest remained whenever she thought of Mamoru. Was it love? She couldn’t be sure. She didn’t have anything to compare it to as she hadn’t had the same feeling for another person.

Her cheeks flushed slightly as she realised she had been staring at Ren and he had caught her. She turned abruptly and entered the kitchen. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

She busied herself taking vegetables out of the fridge and arranging them beside the cutting board. As she reached for a knife, she heard soft footfalls on the carpeted floor. Ren entered the kitchen and paused behind her.

“Is everything okay, Miss Toyama?” His voice was barely more than a whisper.

 _Oh no, he had gotten the wrong impression, hadn’t he?_ She chewed on her bottom lip nervously, as she desperately thought of a way to diffuse the situation.

“Uhm, Mr. Kuroki, I...” Her voice trailed off as another image transplanted itself over the vegetables and chopping board in front of her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she blinked. A vision. She had just had a vision. She turned around hastily and grabbed Ren’s arm.

“We have to get out of here. Now.”

Ren looked clearly confused. “What?”

“No time to explain,” she told him as she pushed past the man and began to drag him along behind her. She gripped the material of his shirt tighter as she picked up speed, heading straight for the front door.

As she reached for the door handle, Ren leaned around her and grabbed her hand, stopping her from opening the door.

“We can’t leave, Miss Toyama.”

Haruka turned on the man, anger flaring behind her eyes. “Do you want to die?” The tone of her voice was eerily calm, which clearly unsettled her caretaker as he took a step back.

“I thought not, so just follow me.”

The complete change that had overcome Haruka had put Ren utterly off-balance and he meekly did as he was told, allowing her to open the door and leave the apartment swiftly.

“Hurry,” she commanded as she broke into a run down the poorly lit corridor that led to a stairwell at the back of the apartment complex. She didn’t look behind her, but she could hear Ren’s footfalls thudding on the floor, following closely.

Just as they neared the end of the corridor, a massive tremor shook the building, causing Haruka to stumble to her knees. A loud booming noise assaulted her ears, deafening her. Still, she didn’t look back, pushing herself to her feet and staggering to the top of the stairwell. She felt an arm encircle her waist and lift her slightly off the ground, propelling her forward. Her eyes widened in alarm and now she did look back. Ren was cringing as he half carried, half pushed her down the stairwell almost at a full run.

Directly behind him was a large wall of fire, rushing straight for them. She opened her mouth to shout a warning, but she was still deafened by the explosion and had no idea if her voice had obeyed her. She felt them both suddenly lurch as Ren jumped from the last few steps, aiming directly for the main door to the building, just a few feet from the bottom of the stairwell.

Her hearing beginning to return to her, she heard a dull thud and a sickening crunch as they connected with the sturdy wood of the door, before it relented and opened, sending them sprawling to the ground outside. Her world flipped upside down as they rolled on the hard tarmac, her bare elbows scraping against the unyielding surface. They came to a stop in a crumple of intertwined limbs a few feet from the doorway. Haruka felt an intense heat behind her for a moment, but it soon faded away.

After what felt like an eternity, she dared to move, extracting herself gingerly from the man lying worryingly still next to her. Her body ached, that was for sure, but she didn’t think anything was broken, and she didn’t seem to be bleeding excessively anywhere. Her elbows had been skinned though and they stung something awful when she moved her arms.

She crawled her way back over to Ren and peered at him. He was lying face down, one arm splayed out to one side, the other at a disturbing angle beneath him. As she leaned closer, she realised what the sickening crunch had been when they had impacted the door. Ren’s shoulder had at best been dislocated; at worst it had been completely shattered. She laid a hand gently on his back and was relieved to feel the slow, if ragged, rise and fall of his breathing. He was unconscious, but at least he was still alive. He had protected her from getting seriously injured at great risk to himself. It may have been part of his job, but she would be eternally thankful to him.

She looked back at the apartment building. Flames licked at the windows on the first floor, but it seemed to be contained at that level. She hoped no-one else had been injured, or worse, from the explosion.

She had to contact the emergency services, to get Ren some help. She would call the fire services, but she would need to contact E. N. for help with her caretaker. She knew they wouldn’t like it if he was just taken to any hospital.

Shuffling closer to Ren’s body, she tried to reach under his hips, aiming for his pockets. She hadn’t had any time to grab any of her belongings, so her phone was still up in the apartment. She hoped Ren still had his on him, and that it hadn’t been crushed during their tumble.

“Sorry,” she whispered to his unconscious form as she felt her way over the material of his trousers. She didn’t want to move Ren and risk worsening his injuries, so she had to settle for this awkward, and slightly embarrassing, way of searching him.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, young lady?”

Haruka froze at the unexpected voice behind her. She didn’t recognise the male baritone and the tone of his voice made her skin crawl.

“Stealing from an injured person... that’s pretty low,” came the stranger’s voice again, this time a little closer.

She quickly retracted her hand from under Ren’s body and turned to face the newcomer.

The man was stocky, with short cropped brown hair and narrow, beady eyes. He was dressed in khakis and a puffy, thigh length jacket. He had a smirk plastered on his face.

“Who are you?” Haruka hissed at him.

His smirk grew into a fully fledged grin. “Oh, you mean you don’t know? The stories must be true then.”

The fear that had been curling in her gut suddenly blossomed into a sickening, sinking feeling. This man had been behind the explosion. For some reason he wanted to kill her. She was used to being sought after, living in fear of kidnapping, but for someone to blatantly want her dead was unusual.

“Why do you want to kill me?” she asked, doing well to hide the hesitation in her voice.

The man’s annoying grin faded a little for a moment. “Kill you? Whatever made you think that?”

Haruka gaped at the guy. “That!” She pointed directly at the fire that was still roaring away inside the building.

The man didn’t bother to look where she had motioned. He chuckled briefly.

“Well, you wouldn’t be of much use if you hadn’t been able to avoid that, eh?”

Now Haruka was beginning to get angry. She should be used to this by now, yet the rage she felt at having innocent people being put at risk because of her never grew cold.

“Bastard,” she spat at him as she rose to her feet, her aching muscles protesting slightly.

“You’re a fiery one, aint’cha?” He slipped a hand inside his jacket and pulled out a combat knife, flipping it in the air and catching it twice before aiming it towards her.

“You’ve got three choices. Run, attack me, or give up. It’s up to you.” He cocked his head to one side as he spoke, clearly goading her.

She pressed her lips into a thin line. What choice did she have? She doubted she could over-power the well built man. Running would probably prove futile, it was unlikely he was here alone, and even if he was, she didn’t want to leave Ren alone and completely vulnerable. She would be damned if she would just go quietly with this asshole though. _C’mon, Haruka, think! There has to be another way!_

If only her abilities worked like they used to. She would have been able to see the best option laid out before her. There was a time when she wished that she had never gotten the ability to see the future, yet now she was cursing its absence.

“C’mon, girl, choose, before I take even that away from you.”

“No. I won’t let you force me into playing this silly game of yours.”

“Tsk.” The man rolled his shoulders and with a quick flick of his wrist, he flipped the knife once more in the air. This time he caught the blade and lifted his arm back, readying to throw it. “I don’t like being disappointed.”

The burly man paused mid-motion, his eyes widening. “Wha-?” His exclamation was cut short as the knife fell from his grip and he crumpled to the floor.

Haruka was equally as surprised. She hadn’t heard or seen anything that would indicate what had happened, but as the man’s body fell, it revealed another figure standing behind him.

A very familiar figure. One that took her back to her childhood. Slightly scruffy, short dark hair, tall, slender body, black jacket, white shirt, dark blue jeans and of course those sunglasses and the white cane that was resting against his shoulder in the most casual of poses. She felt tears build up at the corner of her eyes but she blinked them stubbornly away. She was no longer a child, she couldn’t react like this. Exactly for that reason, she resisted the urge to run to the man.

“Ma-” Her voice broke and she had to pause before trying again. “Mamoru?”

The man before her stayed silent for many moments before he brought the cane that was resting on his shoulder down in front of him and stepped over the crumpled body between them.

“Of course. I thought I was the blind one.”

She almost managed a laugh at that. Almost.

“Who’s the corpse?” he asked, motioning with his cane to behind her.

“Corpse?” She glanced behind her at Ren’s unconscious form. “Oh! That’s...” She trailed off. How was she going to explain to the man who had promised to look over her and protect her ‘until death do us part’ that someone else had been doing his job for all these years?

She glanced back around at Mamoru. He was looking at her expectantly. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“He works for the Elements Network. He’s one of the people they send over to look after me.”

Again, a distinct silence developed between them. Finally, she heard Mamoru let out a sigh.

“Didn’t do a very good job then, did he?”

It was a rhetorical question, she knew, but it irritated her, and she felt the need to respond. The man had risked himself to protect her. He deserved at least some defence.

“He’s injured like that because he _did_ protect me.”

She saw Mamoru’s eyebrows furrow together. Was he angry? Probably. Haruka lifted a hand to her forehead. This wasn’t going how she had imagined it. They were finally reunited and they were already practically arguing.

Mamoru took several steps forward, closing the gap between them, and roughly grabbed the arm she had raised. He twisted it to the side, baring the underside and her skinned elbow. Haruka almost let out a yelp at the unexpected contact.

“I thought I taught you better. Didn’t you learn anything?”

She knew he was referring to her injuries, how he had known she had no idea, but the harshness of his voice sent her mind reeling. She struggled for a reply.

“Yes, but... that was in conjunction with my pre-cognitive ability, and...” Crap, she hadn’t meant to let on that her abilities had faded.

“And... what?” Again, his voice was icy cold. Why was he acting like this towards her?

She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to think of some other explanation. Nothing was forthcoming. Besides, it wasn’t as if she wanted to lie to him.

“The visions haven’t been coming as often as they used to. I didn’t see what was going to happen past the explosion.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Abruptly he let go of her arm, and it dropped limply to her side. She didn’t want to look at him, to see whatever expression he had on his face. She turned away towards the apartment building and was instantly reminded that the fire was still burning furiously.

“I still haven’t called the emergency services!” She started to head back to Ren, to begin the search for his phone once more, but Mamoru’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“It’s already done. They should be here soon. We should leave.” His voice had softened, causing her to glance over her shoulder at him. His expression was back to one of indifference.

“We? You mean I can go with you?”

He raised an eyebrow at that question. “Unless you plan to cancel our contract?”

Her lips quirked slightly in the beginnings of a smile. “Don’t think I’ll let you off that easily.”

Mamoru snorted. “Didn’t think you would.”

He removed his hand from her shoulder and began to walk up the alleyway, back the way he had come, obviously expecting her to follow.

She glanced back at her caretaker. “What about Ren?”

Mamoru paused and turned to look back at her. “Ren? Him?” He motioned to Ren’s unconscious form. “He’ll be fine. It’s not life threatening.”

Haruka wasn’t completely convinced. Surely Mamoru had no way of knowing for sure. Still, she was beginning to fall back into old habits, and she had always trusted him in the past, there was no reason she should stop now.

Mamoru had begun walking again and she jogged up the narrow street to catch up with him, falling into stride beside him. It almost felt like old times. A huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. He had come back for her. She had always wanted to believe he would, but there had been that niggling doubt that perhaps she had been wrong.

Now there were new questions. Where had he been all these years? What had stopped him from coming back sooner? As far as she knew, E.N. had wanted him eliminated six years ago. Would they still be after him? So many questions... but for now, she was content to simply bask in his presence.


End file.
